Indian Navy’s extended power
The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy, the naval branch of armed forces of India. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), usually a four-star officer in the rank of admiral, commands the navy. The 17th-century Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle is considered as the ‘Father of the Indian Navy’. In 1612, the British established the East India Company’s Marine to protect its merchant shipping off the Gulf of Cambay and up the Narmada and Tapti rivers. Its first fighting ships in India were acquired on 5 September 1612. When India became a republic on 26 January 1950, the Royal prefix was dropped and the name Indian Navy was officially adopted.
Navy Powers as of 2014:
Indian Navy has a strength of 58,350 personnel and an operational fleet consisting of two aircraft carriers, one transport dock, 8 destroyers, 15 frigates, 9 landing ships, one nuclear power attacked submarines, 24 corvettes, 7 mine countermeasure vessels,14 conventionally power attacked submarines, 32 patrol vessels, 4 fleet tankers and various auxiliary vessels. Indian Navy is sixth largest navy in the world. Presently, there are 3 Indian Naval commands: –
1) Western Naval Command: Mumbai
2) Eastern Naval Command: Vishakhapatnam
3) Southern Naval Command: Kochi
Powers of Kamorta:
Sturdy warship ‘Kamorta’ is a first of its kind Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) corvettes built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) under Project-28 for the Indian Navy. It is the first Indian Naval warship ever built in the country with almost 90 per cent of indigenous content. It is also the first naval warship built in the country with indigenously developed special grade high-tensile (DMR249A) steel produced by SAIL (Steel Authority of India). The hull of the ship encompasses the bulk of sensors and weapon systems that are also indigenously manufactured by various Indian industries.
Gun system: The OTO Melara 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) on the bow deck delivers at a rate of 120 rounds per minute. The gun can fire standard ammunition to a maximum range of 16km.
Two AK 630 CIWs (Close-In Weapon Systems), each mounted on either side of the deck, provide close-point defence against anti-ship missiles, precision guided weapons, low flying fixed or rotary wing aircraft and small craft.
Missile and rockets: The Kamorta Class is installed with a 16-cell vertical launching system (VLS) for firing Barak Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs). The Barak SAM system can strike anti-ship missiles, fixed and rotary-wing aircraft as well as UAVs.
The RBU-6000 (IRL) anti-submarine rocket launchers and triple torpedo tubes mounted on the vessels ensure the engagement of enemy submarines.
Design and description:
Designed by Directorate of Naval Design (DND), the successful construction of ASW corvettes with advanced stealth features also bears testimony to GRSE’s growing capabilities in building state-of-the-art naval combatants comparable to the best in the world.
This is the first Indian Navy ship to be built with carbon fiber reinforced plastic which reduces weight and life cycle maintenance costs. The hull of the ship encompassed the bulk of sensors and weapon systems that were also indigenously manufactured by various Indian industries.
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